Entries in fitness
(8)

With all the news about childhood obesity, the kids triathlon movement is a welcome dose of the alternative.

Not only CAN kids do things even their parents wouldn't dream of doing, but they often WANT to, and they have FUN doing it!

Who knew?

A friend of mine put together the Moco Mojo Kids Tri that was held last weekend in Silver Spring, MD. At first, I was resistant to have the girls participate and I actually talked Em out of registering because she can be such a whiner when we go on our 2 mile bike ride (one way, so I guess really 4 miles) to the library. I was like, "You complain after a 2-mile bike ride! Imagine adding a swim and a run to that!"

She, surprisingly, agreed with me. Until 2 days before the event when she went to watch El practice transitioning from pool to bike. It just looked like a lot of fun to her, all her friends were doing it, etc. So, I've learned a lesson.

Who am I to keep my kid from tapping into her competitive spirit and taking on a challenge?

bthe bike staging area, preparing to swim, and running through the finish line

Here's what they had to do for their age group (7-9 yr olds)

Swim a 50 meter

Bike 2 miles

Run .5 miles

Kids Tri Events Keep Kids and Parents Moving...in the right direction

The distances varied for the younger (yes, younger!) kids and older kids, and some parents were able to run along or even bike with their kids for encouragement. The event started in waves with the older kids heading off first. The pool was COLD and the temperature outside was EVEN COLDER so the swim was optional. We took some extra time after the swim to get El's bathing suit top off, and a dry shirt on, because she had had a fever the night before and...oy, that sounds so awful but honestly, she wanted to do this and felt FINE besides the fever!

Above you'll see the t-shirt designed by one of the participants, Em getting marked before the start, the perfect tri set-up as taught to us by the organizer, and my two triathlons!

The best part was the volunteer team that helped coordinate, set up, manage, and break down the event so that all these kids could feel like real athletes. THAT is how you get kids to keep moving and live a healthy lifestyle.

This is the Facebook post where I second-guess the 'trade' deal I recently brokered:

This is the guy that carried out said ass-kicking this morning

at 6:00 am

Cause why not pour salt into the wounds?

This is the BACON chocolate bar he let me sample after the work out.

According to Tim, "when your insulin is low, right after a workout, that's when I tell my chocoholics to eat their chocolate."

I'm still not sure if I love him for that...or hate him.

And this is the text he sent me after I got home.

Charming, no?

If you are interested in hiring Tim to push you a little, oh just a little more {rolls eyes} than you normally push yourself, you can find him at GetResultsTrainers.com and on Facebook. He does more than help you work out better, he also can put together a whole nutrition plan as well as a fitness plan.

As a Bee Squad member I am learning more and more about Bumble Bee as a company. One of the areas they are passionate about is living healthy.

Bee Well for Life

Bumble Bee has created a site called Bee Well for Life where members can log the miles they walk, run, surf, or whatever the chosen activity is! Not only that, Bumble Bee is donating $.10 for every mile logged to Y-ME National Breast Cancer Organization!

I have been playing around with a few different programs to track my calorie intake as well as my activity. Knowing that if I log my miles with Bee Well for Life, each mile or minute of activity is generating a donation for a worthy cause gives me that extra motivation to keep moving!

Disclosure: As a member of the Bee Squad Bumble Bee is my official sponsor to attend the BlogHer 11 conference. I have received a box of product for my family to use as we explore the Bumble Bee line of products and document the experience here. I may at some point offer a giveaway and that product will be supplied at not cost to me.